Introduction.- The desire for the new: its nature and social location as presented in theories of fashion and modern consumerism.- Consuming Goods and the Good of Consuming.- Conspicuous Confusion? A Critique of Veblen’s Theory of Conspicuous Consumption.- The Meaning of objects and the meaning of actions: a critical note on the sociology of consumption and theories of clothing.- Shopping, Pleasure and the Sex War.- Consumption and the Rhetorics of Need and Want.- I Shop therefore I Know that I Am: The Metaphysical Basis of Modern consumerism.- The Craft Consumer: Culture, craft and consumption in a postmodern society.- The curse of the new: how the accelerating pursuit of the new is driving hyper-consumption.- A Matter of Necessity: Reflections on Need and Want in a Time of Lockdown.